Method of making brake actuating means



u 9 R. A. GVOEPFRICH 2,381,736

mmon OF MAKING BRAKE AC'TUATING MEANS 7 Original Filed Aug. 16, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 1- f mvsfimz 150.004 PH. A. GazP/ f/c/r ATTORNEY Aug. 7,1945. R. A. GOEPFRLCH I I 2,381,736

- METHOD OF MAKING BRAKE ACTUATING MEANS Oiiginail Filed Aug. 16, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 uvvawm? Foam/w" A. GOZ'PFE/CH ATTWENEY Aug. 7, 1945. R. A. GOEPFRICH ,3

METHOD OF MAKING BRAKE ACTUATING MEANS Original Filed Aug. 16, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENMR B0000 A. azPfi/cfl I I I ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 7, 1945 i Morn-0n or MAKING BRAKE ACTUATING wRudolph. A. Goepfrich, South Bend,.Ind., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South'Bend, ,Ind' a corporation of Delaware Original application August 16, 1941, Serial No.

407,101. Divided and this application July 1'7,

, 1944, Serial No. 545,283

The. principal object of the present invention I is to provide an eflicient and inexpensive method for making a brake actuating means.

.The saving in manufacturing cost results not onlyfrornpthe substitution of the simple stamping operation for the casting process but also from the avoidance of high machining costs. In cast iron cylinders of the type conventionally used any bosses or nipples, for example, to accommodate the inlet passage and bleeder screw,

are cast integral. with the body and they have to I becarefully machined. The use of stamped steel cylinders in place'of cast iron cylinders makes possible a thinner cylinder wall which can be punched or drilled in a single operation. Cast ironscylinders do not lend themselvesreadily to i such handling... r

In handing the fittings or bosses, any machining operations which must be performedon them are more'easily. performed When the fittings are apart from the cylinder thanwhen. they are cast integralwithit. In line with this, an advantage isgained by forming the necessarybosses and tubes separately from the stamped cylindersand then welding or brazing them to the cylinders, all the parts being secured to all the cylinders in a single operation.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent during the course of the following description, in which reference is had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation showing a disk brake assembly incorporating my invention andshowing a hydraulic brake applying cylinder in section;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 Figure 3 is a view showing the brake applying means and fluid carrying means of Figures 1 and 2 before assembly;

Figure 4 shows the brake applying means and fluid carrying means of Figures 1, 2 and 3 after the fluid carrying means or tube has been bent;

Figure 5 is a close-up showing the end of the tube of Figure 4 connected to a fitting;

Figure 6 shows a modification of the wheel cylinder and conduit assembly of Figure 4, the said assembly being shown as it appears before the cylinders are welded or brazed to the tubes and before the tube has been bent; and

Figure 7 shows the device of Figure 6 after the tube has been bent and when the assembly .is ready to be positioned on the brake. In Figures 1 and 2', I have illustrated a disk brake assembly incorporating my invention. As shown, said brake assembly includes a rotatable drum l0 having associated therewith a rotor disk II faced with frictional lining material, astationary supporting member. l2, and non-rotatable axially movable disk I3. The rotatable disk II extends between the'di'sk l3 and the supporting member l2, so that the rotation of the disk may be-impeded and stopped when the axially movable disk I3 is moved toward the supporting member l2 to'clamp the rotatable disk H therebetween. A plurality of rods M are connected as by nuts IE to the axially movable disk I3. The rods pass through openings in the supporting member t2 and into hydraulic cylinders I'B wherein they are connected to pistons 11 which are reciprocable in the cylinders l6. Packings '18 are'zprovided' to prevent the escape of fluidfrom cylinders 16 and light springs 19 are provided in each cylinder tending to move the piston away from the supporting. member. Springs "are compressed between the supporting member and theexially movable disk' I3 adjacent eachrrod M in order to position. i

The cylinders 16 are formed by using-the stamping process referred to as drawing and have the shape of cups with the bottom portion of the cup abutting the supporting member l2 and the top or open portion of the cup serving to admit the piston head when the pistons are inserted in thecylinders. I have shown a brake using three stamped cylinders. Obviously any number of cylinders could be utilized without departing from my invention, but it has been found that three is a satisfactory number. In the brake assembly (see Fig. l) the cylinders are positioned around a circumference of the brake supporting member l2, each one approximately 120 from the others.

Before the cylinders are assembled with the hold the disk l3. in brake released brake, they may be welded or brazed .to a tube I 2|. The tube 2| interconnects all of the cylinders and also serves to connect them to a source of fluid pressure. At one end of the tube, a fitting 22 is provided, preferably welded or brazed to the end of the tube and at the other end of the tube a fitting 23 is welded or brazed. The fitting 22, which is preferably located higher than any other portion of the tube, accommodates a bleeder screw 24 and fitting 23 is connected to a fluid conduit (not shown) which leads to a source of fluid under pressure.

Openings 25 are punched, drilled or otherwise provided in the cylinders l6, and complementary openings 26 are provided in the tube 2|. Then the cylinders are welded to the tube in such position that the openings 25 and 26 are in alignment so that the tube communicates with the interior of each of the cylinders.

The welding operation to secure the tube to the cylinder is preferably done before the tube has been bent. As illustrated in Figure 3, the cylinders may be placed adjacent the openings in the straight tube 2 I. In order to assure a satisfactory welding operation, it is advisable to tack weld the cylinders to the tube before the final welding or brazing operation.

The assembly of tube and cylinders is put into a furnace having an atmosphere of hydrogen or the like to weld or braze the parts together in the well known manner. After this is done, the tube may be bent to the desired shape and the whole tube and cylinder assembly may be assembled with the brake in such a manner that the tube is tangent to each of the cylinders at or near the highest point of the cylinder as it is positioned in the assembled brake. It is not necessary that the tube bending be done after the welding process but it is desirable. One reason being that a given amount of space in a welding furnace can accommodate a larger number of tube and cylinder assemblies when the assemblies are in the straight or single line position. During the time the cylinders are being welded to the tube, the fittings 22 and 23 may be welded to the ends of the tube as illustrated in Figure 5.

In Figures 6 and 7, I have illustrated a modification of the tube and cylinder assembly which is probably even more satisfactory than the tube and cylinder assembly of Figures 3 and 4. In the device'of Figures 6 and 7, the ends of tubes 21a and 2 lb are pressed into openings 24a in the sides of the cylinders I 6. Fittings 22a and 23a are likewisepressed into openings 24b in each of the end cylinders. After the assembly has been horizontally formed as shown in Figure 6, it is put through a welding or brazing furnace with the result that the'fittings, tubing and cylinders are all welded together to form a unitary assembly. This assembly is then assembled with the brake as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Although I have described certain specific embodiments of my device, it will be apparent that many modifications of the said device can be made without departing from the scope of my invention. I therefore desire that my invention be limited not by the description or drawings but only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method for making and assembling disk brake actuating means, comprising forming a plurality of cup-shaped actuating cylinders by drawing them to the desired depth, cutting a passage through the side of each cup, cutting a, pre-formed tube to the desired length, cutting openings in the tube complementary to the openings in the cups, and securing the tube to the cups by a single welding process.

A method for making and assembling disk brake actuating means, comprising forming a plurality of cup-shaped actuating cylinders by drawing them to the desired depth, cutting a passage through the side of each cup, cutting a pre-formed tube to the desired length, cutting openings in the tube complementary to the openings in the cups, securing the tube to the cups by a welding process, and securing an inlet and bleeding nipple respectively to the opposite ends of the tube.

3. A method for making and assembling disk brake actuating means comprising forming three or more cup-shaped actuating cylinders by'drawing them to the desired depth, cutting a preformed straight tube to the desired length, assembling the cylinders and the tube with the tube still straight, securing the tube to the cups by a single welding process, and thereafter bending the tube to bring the axes of all the cylinders on the circumference of a single circle.

4. A method for making and assembling disk brake actuating means comprising forming three or more cup-shaped actuating cylinders by drawing them to the desired depth, cutting a plurality of pre-formed straight tubes to the desired length, assembling the cylinders and the tubes with the tubes lying along a straight line, securing the tubes to the cups by a single welding process, and thereafter bending the tubes to bring the axes of all the cylinders on the circumference of a single circle.

RUDOLPH A. GOEPFRICH. 

